by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
June 8, 2032: Ashland, North Carolina – Drafts are living, breathing things – not static and predictable. There are drafts that are chalked full of talent and those that are so talent poor that after four picks, it’s time to throw darts. Teams went into the 2032 draft with a quiver full of darts. Aurora went into this draft of unknown quality – as teams would hope the poor appearances were just fake news, with a plan – yet they seemed to fall into a familiar pattern: needing infielders, they drafted one out of their top 5 picks. Be it an attempt to get the best available out of a pile of trash, or being resigned to the garbage and just taking low Organizational needs – we won’t know, but here’s what we have thus far in the Class of 2032 for the Aurora Borealis.
Aurora lost their own pick (#16) – the penalty for signing Shane Willis to a free agent contract, but thanks to deals with New Orleans (#18, thanks to the Bob Burns – who, by the way, had been killing it in The Big Easy) and San Juan (#22, the ‘Terror’ salary dump), Aurora had a pair of picks in the first round, and with they selected 21-year old 2B Dave Hoffman out of Rice University. The right-handed, four-year starter was Rice’s leader in HR (10) and RBI (29) and second in average (.282) on a 4th place club in the American Heartland Conference. Hoffman is a career .296 hitter, with a .528 SLG, having two seasons of double-digit homers. He’s a bit of a plodder and an above average defender, preferring to only playing 2B – a bit of a draw back for a player on a team that values versatility. Dave was a USCBA All-Star and Platinum Stick at 2B his sophomore year, so there certainly looks to be some potential here. Aurora’s minor league system is short on quality infield talent, and thus Hoffman possibly becomes Aurora’s top 2B prospect – 2029 41st overall Hector Moran being the current top 2B in the system (who, after some positive results, is struggling in 2032 at Gatineau). The Pleasant Hill, CA native is reportedly thrilled to be drafted by the Borealis, and is expected to be on board by the end of the week. He will step right into the Mokule’ia line-up immediately.
Four selections later, Aurora took a SP out of the University of Tokyo – left-hander Hector Gutierrez, who checks in at 6’ 3” and 185 lbs. Hector pitched as a closer his first three years with the Imperials, picking up 36 saves in 63 appearances (and a 0.98 ERA), before he was moved into the rotation for this year, posting a 2-2 record and a 2.05 ERA. Gutierrez poses an interesting question for Aurora – starter or reliever. Featuring a hard cutter (topping out at 99 mph) and a change that the scouts feel could keep many a hitter off balance, the otherwise quality looking starter is lacking what most scouts like to see in a starter – a third pitch. With decent stamina, Aurora could envision sending Hector to winter ball to work on just that – a third pitch. Regardless of role, what Aurora looks like they’ve drafted is a pitcher with a high K:BB ratio (nearly 9:1) and he averaged 15 K/9 (3rd best in the ICOL) and the third best WAR in International ball. What Gutierrez does is add depth to the young starting pitching stable on The Front Range, as he joins Henry Cluett, Brian Clark and (now) Armando Batista, who have already made it to the Big Leagues, and Ryan Tate, Pedro Morales (at Thornton) and Lewis Uige (AA). The native of Puerto Rico will instantly become the highest rated arm at Mokule’ia – and with a solid start, he could find himself finishing the year at SLRC. Of this years draft class, Hector Gutierrez has the best chance of finding his way to the Big League roster.
Aurora did not have a 2nd round pick – that went to Madison last year in a trade for Cleve Douglas, and their third rounder went away to Amsterdam in exchange for Jesus Cantu, but the Borealis did earn a compensation pick for failing to sign Jacob Briggs (now with the Alleghenies organization), last years third round pick – the last pick in the third round, which they turned into RF Cristian Rodriguez, a two-time Glove Wizard out of the University of Sydney. The 6’, 180 lb Cuban is an excellent outfielder – as his credentials suggest, and is a hard-working, fleet-footed right-handed hitter. His preferred spot is in RF, but he’s also competent in CF, where he will no doubt get plenty of innings as Aurora does search for more competence at centerfield within the system. Though he regressed some this season, Cristian posted a career .251 average, mostly hampered by 164 K in 782 AB – something Aurora hopes he can improve upon. He was successful on 17 of 21 career steal attempts. While not expected to be amongst the top prospects for Aurora in CF or the OF in general (which look to be Rookie Ball outfielder Tony Munoz and AAA - and soon to be Aurora sensation Gabriel Rodgriguez), with some hard work and a little luck, C-Rod could be there in a couple of seasons. That level of improvement will be imperative if Rodriguez is going to see AB on The Front Range. Cristian will begin the year at Mokule’ia, sharing time with who many of the scouting staff feel is the best RF in the system, Lorenzo Moran and a bevy of CFs.
After having selected three college age players with their first three picks, Aurora began to turn their attention to their rookie ball squad at Montserrat. With the 114th overall selection, Aurora choose another RF – this time a Japanese-Canadian from Hunting Hills HS, Toshikazu Nishida. The left-handed swinging 18-year old has a commitment to Chuo University, so the career .228 hitter (who hit .262 with 4 HR and 19 RBI – all good for 2nd on the team) may not be convinced to sign on with the Borealis. He does have some gap-power potential and hit 14-2B and 5-3B on the season, taking advantage of his great speed – the rest of his base running skills need some work. He’s an average defender, but his high school coaches were quoted as saying ‘he left everything on the field with each practice’. Aurora can only hope that translates into marked improvements across his skill sets. Should he sign, it is expected he will get ample opportunities with the Mystique
Aurora’s selection in the 5th round was the 11th pick, (courtesy of trade with Amsterdam, this time for Nathaniel Vanrenen), and they selected a closer from Collegio San Carlo (IHS), right-handed Alex Rundle. The Borealis like Rundle, and they can see him moving through the system successfully – but it may be up to him. First, he has a commitment to Washington State, and secondly, he’s perhaps not the hardest of workers – and it’s that last part that will make or break Alex’s career. He has an excellent fastball, and a slider that is ‘complementary-enough’ (so say the scouts), but his pitches tend to come in a little too straight. That said, in 17-innings this year (he had his season cut short with a mid-season elbow injury that may require paying attention to), he struck out 31 and walked only 3. He also allowed 4 HR, so there’s that. If he can cut back on the homers and improve each year as he did this year over last, Aurora may be on to something. Should he sign, he will join last years top pick, CL Connor Smith and he will be one of the top relievers on Aurora’s Caribbean squad. This kid has the potential to make it to the Bigs – but he will have to want it.
With Aurora’s 6th round pick in the possession of Toyama (the Gabe McIntyre trade), Aurora waited until the 7th round before they returned their attention to the Organizations most pressing need – infield help. What they found in left-handed hitting SS Kamatari Kurota is a quality defender who could pinch-hit at 3B if pressed, who physically reminds many of a young Teddy Loetzsch – but oh, to have Teddy’s offensive skills. Yet, Kurota still may grade out as Aurora’s top SS prospect – which is a sad prospect indeed. He did have his best season as a four-year starter at San Juan College – he hit .280, and his 4 HR nearly matched his total for the three previous years (5). The big issue for Kurota’s success will be seeing the ball better at the plate and making better contact. If he can do those two things, he may have a chance – 185 H and 159 K in his college career is not a promising statistic. We expect to see him start right away with the Oceanic, where two of Aurora’s top three shortstop prospects reside (Julio Garza and Brian McKinney – last years 17th round pick – that’s how bad a situation it is).
There it is. My partner in crime, Ray, will no doubt follow up with the rest of the draft, but upon first blush, Aurora looks to have done about as well as can be expected for a year as rough as this. Now we turn our attentions to bonus signings and those first pro ABs.
